Took the AC-bus from Hikkaduwa to Colombo one morning 06:00. We arrived around 9:00 to Fort Railway Station where we had a date with a car!
And what a car! Petter has been chatting with the guy who rents it out for months, but when we got there it didn’t start… We had to push start it.
It worked! And we drove to AA Ceylon, Automobile Association that is. Not Anonymous Alcoholics..
We didn’t dare to turn the engine off so me and Petter run in and the car company guy waited in the car..
Bureaucracy never goes fastI guess, not anywhere in the world. But here it’s even slower cause everything is analog.. We filled out forms that was passed around three different typewriters, then I had to go pay in one desk and return with the receipt to an other. It’s actually quite funny..
Apparently AA is extremely faster then getting your permit at the Ministry or Bureau of Transport. But make sure you’re here early! After we got our permits Petter got to drive the jeep!
I must say I’m so impressed with Petter’s driving skills.. I only got my license two weeks ago and would never dare to drive in Colombo, capital of Sri Lanka. He drove us to Barefoot Gallery, a little oasis in the city. A Colombo institution Holger and Totte told us about before our first visit.
Here’s the three documents you need to drive on Sri Lanka as a foreigner: International Driving Permit (we got it from our local AA home in Sweden), your actual Driving License and a permit that validates that you actually are aloud to drive on Sri Lanka (that’s the one we got from AA Ceylon). If you got your International Driving Permit from AA in your home country then you can get the local permit at AA Ceylon, if not you have to visit the bureau of transportation.
Then Petter got so much pain in his ear we had to visit a hospital, he’s been having a badass ear infection on both ears since the summer.
Sitting waiting wishing.
Then we took the train back to Hikkaduwa. Celebrated the day with not so tasty drinks at the dreadful hotel Chaaya Tranz.
